Sambizanga is one of the six urban districts that make up the
municipality of Luanda, in the
province of Luanda, Angola.
Overview
Sambizanga has a 14.5 km² area and about 244,000 inhabitants. Limited to the west by the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
, on the north by the municipality of
Cacuaco
Cacuaco is a city and one of the nine municipalities that make up the province of Luanda. A suburb of the capital, Luanda, it has a population of 1,279,488 (2019).
Administrative divisions
The Municipality of Cacuaco is made up of three commun ...
, in the East by the municipality of
Cazenga and south by the municipalities of
Ingombota and
Rangel. It comprises the municipalities of Sambizanga, Bairro Operário and Ngola Kiluanje. Sambizanga is home to the
Progresso Associação do Sambizanga
Progresso Associação do Sambizanga is an Angolan football club based in Luanda. The club was founded in 1975, as a result of a merger of three clubs: Juventude Unida do Bairro Alfredo (JUBA), Juventista and Vaza.
Progresso do Sambizanga is no ...
football club of the
Girabola
Girabola, or ''Campeonato Nacional de Futebol em Séniores Masculinos'', is the top division of Angolan football. It is organized by the Angolan Football Federation.
The league winner and runner-up qualify for the CAF Champions League.
Gira ...
and the residential area
Avenida Comandante Valòdia.
Mercado Roque Santeiro and Mercado do São Paulo are the largest open-air markets in Africa located in the district. The first is no longer existent but the second one still exists.
More about Sambizanga
Sambizanga is a district in the North of
Luanda
Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...
. Its name comes from the words samba and zanga from the
Kimbundu language that can also be traced backed to a dance called n'zanga where people would compete a lot, hence its name. If not the most important, Sambizanga was one of the most important and iconic neighborhoods in Luanda. It matched the importance of
Soweto
Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...
in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
,
Harare
Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...
in
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
and lots of other historic places like the neighborhoods in
Accra Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
. Sambizanga was not only important in a cultural way but also in a strategic way for the revolutionary movements who wanted to fight against colonialism. It was in Sambizanga that they all started seen as it could harbour, transition and mobilize everything and everybody to create its own dynamic. It was also in Sambizanga where the first
Cape-Verdean,
São-Tomé and
Congolese immigrants arrived. It was regarded as a "Bairro" that had a little bit of everything, and that was brought by its youth who was dedicated to sports, studies and music.
It was in Sambizanga where emblematic figures like
José Eduardo dos Santos
José Eduardo dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was the president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and president of the People's Movement for ...
were born and grew up to become some of the most important
Angolans in history.
2007 shooting
In December 2007, film director
Radical Ribeiro began shooting a film in Sambizanga. On 18 December, police mistook actors in Ribeiro's film, who were carrying unloaded firearms, as actual criminals and opened fire on them, killing two. Interior Minister
Roberto Leal Monteiro said "We won't rest until police at all levels realise they are public servants."
See also
*
List of lighthouses in Angola
This is a list of lighthouses in Angola.
Lighthouses
See also
*List of lighthouses in the Republic of the Congo (to the north-west)
*List of lighthouses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
*List of lighthouses in Namibia (to the south)
* ...
*
Railway stations in Angola
Railway stations in Angola include:
Towns served by rail
North line (Luanda Railway) (CFL)
(Also known as '' Luanda Railway'') (originally 1000 mm gauge, now 1067 mm gauge)
* Luanda – port – national capital; junction
** Bung ...
References
Luanda
Municipalities in Luanda
Populated places in Luanda Province
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